cfer booklet on crt
TRANSCRIPT
Critical Race Theory: Ideology, Practices, and
Ways to Push Back
CFER Booklet on CRT
Californians for equal rights foundation Dedicated to Promoting the Principles of Equal Rights and Merit
www.Cferfoundation.org
Spring 2021
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CRT: A Solid Theory or Political Indoctrination?
Its Theoretical Underpinnings
Academic roots: Marxism, Neo-Marxism (the Frankfurt School), Radical Feminism, Critical Theory, Post-Modernism, Constructivism… “A collection of critical stances against the existing legal order from a race-based point of view.” ---Roy L. Brooks (1994). "Critical Race Theory: A Proposed Structure and Application to Federal Pleading". “A collection of activists and scholars interested in studying and transforming the relationship among race, racism, and power.” --- Richard Delgado & Jean Stefancic (2017). Critical race theory: an introduction (Third ed.). “An approach to grappling with a history of white supremacy that rejects the belief that what’s in the past is in the past, and that the laws and systems that grow from that past are detached from it.” --- Kimberlé Crenshaw (2020). Interview with The Time Magazine. “The introduction to a particular form of life; it serves in part to prepare students for dominant or subordinate positions in the existing society.” --- Peter McLaren (2003). The Critical Pedagogy Reader.
Intellectual Criticisms
Bottomline: It is a contested and explicitly political theory that examines all social relations, economic governance and policy outcomes through the prism of race and systemic racism. CRT creates a phenomenon of people searching for “power imbalances, bigotry, and biases that it assumes must be present,” which reduces everything to prejudice, “as understood under the power dynamics asserted by Theory.”--- Helen Pluckrose and James Lindsay (2020). Cynical Theories: How Activist Scholarship Made Everything about Race, Gender, and Identity—and Why This Harms Everybody. “Anti-racism initiatives and the narratives and ideologies feed them result from a ‘primacy of identity’ that, itself, results from a strong sense of disempowerment that leads to fallacious interpretations of texts, situations, and people; an infantilization of the field, its scholars, and its students; an overemphasis of subjectivity and self-expression over empirical and critical thought; an embrace of racial essentialism.” Erec Smith (2019). A Critique of Anti-racism in Rhetoric and Composition: The Semblance of Empowerment.
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CRT: From Theory to Propagation
• Personal narratives of marginalized minority “victim” groups evidences the cruelty and dishonesty of mostly white heterosexual “oppressor.” • Traditional American values such as hard-work, personal responsibility, self-empowerment/agency, equality and merit are political vehicles of control exercised by the “oppressors.” • Racism is permanent and affects every aspect of society, including political, economic, social and religious institutions. Colorblindness and race neutrality are delusions imagined by the ruling “oppressors.” • Every dysfunctional condition in black urban communities can be traced to slavery and its aftermath. • The oppressive system of white supremacy must be dismantled and destroyed.
Source: Carol M. Swain. (2020). “Critical race theory’s toxic, destructive impact on America.” 1776 Unites.
*The world is divided into white oppressors and non-white victims. *“White privilege” and its unearned benefits become responsible for economic, health, and social disparities in minority communities. *Intersectionality of our social identities perpetuates systemic oppression.
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CRT in Classrooms: A Thought Revolution
In recent years, especially since last summer’s season of racial reckoning, various public school districts and individual schools have rushed to embrace a movement in both classrooms and the work place to aggressively teach and impose controversial political views and non-academic concepts such as systemic racism, white privilege, power & privilege, white fragility, racial sensitivity, and anti-racism.
A few notable examples. Third graders from an affluent community in Cupertino California recently participated in a math class to deconstruct their racial and social identities based on “power and privilege”. Public school teachers in San Diego were forced to take “white privilege” training sessions to atone for the sin of “spirit murdering black children.” A Philadelphia elementary school subjected its fifth graders to a celebration of "black communism," followed by a simulated Black Power Rally to "free Angela Davis." The Oregon Department of Education is offering workshops on “ethnomathematics” to dismantle “white supremacy culture.” A critical race theory expert was captured on camera leading hundreds of high school students in L.A. to perform a unity chant that worships an Aztec God associated with human sacrifice. Similar examples abound and they collectively demonstrate that this movement is not confined to just social studies, history or to higher grades.
Profile 1: The United Nations
International School’s Anti-Racism
Profile 2: Buffalo Public Schools’
Culturally Responsive Programming Background: A private school educating children of UN diplomats at $44,000 a year. Events: A student-led initiative denounced teachers and administrators for their “vast history of systemic racism,” “white liberal racist thinking, and “direct, intentional, repeated racial trauma.” The school responded to the students’ threat of “cancellation” by sponsoring a series of anti-racist training programs.
Background: A failed public school district with 18% of math proficiency and 20% of English proficiency by the 5th grade. Events: The district promotes “woke” initiatives that teach “Black Lives Matter principles,” “America’s sickness,” “queer-affirming,” “disruption of Western nuclear family dynamics,” “confronting whiteness” to its students from kindergartens to high schools.
Source: Christopher F. Rufo’s investigative work, accessible at https://christopherrufo.com/. CFER’s Weekly Newsletters: https://cferfoundation.org/newsletters/.
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CRT in Workplaces: Race-based Hostility
The new doctrine of CRT has also arrived in Corporate America and public agencies on virtually all levels of governance. Diversity consultants, anti-racism trainers, and cultural awareness gurus capitalize on the ideological fashion to root out “racism,” “inequities,” and “injustice” by selling CRT and CRT-infused programming to corporations, townships, and local communities. The underlying logic is to fight perceived racism with actual racism and discrimination.” Similarly, there is a systematic attempt to socially re-engineer our workplace to one that’s hateful, illiberal, and un-American.
Profile 1: GARE’s “Racial Equity” Map for Local Governance
Background: The Government Alliance on Race and Equity (GARE) is a non-profit initiative that has trained over 150 local jurisdictions in 30 states with its racial equity framework. Description: GARE offers a comprehensive list of marketing materials and training tools to help local governments advance racial equity. Its radical claims include: “hard-work is a myth,” city/town institutions are “inherently and structurally racist,” local officials must “drive specific outcomes for people of color,” “the 1964 Civil Rights Act is racist.” Website: https://www.racialequityalliance.org/.
Profile 2: Coca-Cola’s Diversity Training Program
Background: The beverage tycoon employs over 86,000 employees and has a “Racial Equity Plan” with a pledge of $500 million contributions to black-owned businesses in the next 5 years. Event: The company retained CRT theoretician Robin DiAngelo to give an online anti-racism course for its employees. The course made it clear that its goal was to train people “to be less white to be less oppressive, to be less arrogant, to be less trusting, to be less defensive, to be less ignorant, to be more humble, to listen, to believe. , break with apathy and break with white solidarity.” Source: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/366132
CRT in Their Own Words
Source: Educators for Quality and Equality. https://www.educators4qe.org/critical-race-theory-in-their-own-words.html
"Critical race theory questions the very foundations of the liberal order including equality theory, legal reasoning, Enlightenment rationalism, and neutral principles of constitutional law." -Richard Delgado & Jean Stefancic
"The oppressors, who oppress, exploit, and rape by virtue of their power, cannot find in this power the strength to liberate either the oppressed or themselves." -Paolo Freire White identity is inherently racist; white
people do not exist outside the system of white supremacy...To be less white is to be less racially oppressive.” -Robin DiAngelo
“When liberal whites fail to understand how they can and/or do embody white-supremacist values and beliefs even though they may not embrace racism as prejudice or domination, they cannot recognize the ways their actions support and affirm the very structure of racist domination and oppression that they profess to wish to see eradicated.” – bell hooks
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How Expensive is CRT?
Ironically, against their anti-capitalism beliefs, theoreticians and practitioners of CRT have swiftly utilized the free market to build a multi-billion-dollar industry. It is fair to argue that CRT interest groups are benefiting financially from the very economic system they condemn. To compound the issue, many CRT and CRT-infused programs targeting public agencies from school districts to local governments are taxpayer-funded! Just a sneak peek at CRT price tags: On a macro level… Sources: Sean Cooper (2021). “Getting Rich in the Diversity Marketplace.” Tablet. Kim Tran (2021). “The Diversity and Inclusion Industry Has Lost Its Way.” Harpers. Christian Schneider (2021). “UC Berkeley spends $25M a year, pays 400 employees to advance ‘equity and inclusion’.” The College Fix.
$11,000 for CRT teacher training at Poway Unified School District.
$65,000 for a keynote address and a CRT workshop at Chula Vista Elementary. $1,750/hour for racial literacy training.
$2,000 for a 90-minute talk on “anti-racism and inclusivity”. $21,000 plus travel for a 3-day internal review for a DEI overhaul.
…
The Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) industry is an $8-billion business.
30% of job growths since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Industry players include: personnel managers, consultants/contractors,
organizational psychologists, social media influencers, marketing professionals… Case in Point: UC Berkeley spends $25 million a year, hires 400 employees to
advance “equity and inclusion”.
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How to Spot CRT? Codenames & Keywords
Often, CRT programs are masqueraded in pleasant-sounding yet ambiguous names. Laws
Common Codenames for CRT: Diversity, equity and inclusion training, anti-racism initiative, racial
sensitivity training, racial healing, social emotional learning, critical self-awareness, anti-bias training, culturally responsive practices, critical
ethnic studies, critical pedagogy, free radical therapy, free radical self/collective care, action civics…
Keywords of a CRT framework: White supremacy, systemic racism, white privilege, white fragility,
intersectional identities, internalized racism, anti-racism, white social capital, colorism, interrupting racism, racialized identity, racial
prejudice, educational justice, anti-blackness, abolitionist teaching, spirit murdering, land acknowledgement, representation and inclusion…
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CRT Maps: Education & Workplaces
Nowadays, virtually every university, every school, every large corporation, every government agency, and every scientific society has committed itself to the fashionable religion of CRT. The U.S. Department of Education recently proposed two funding priorities for the American History and Civics Education programs, citing Ibram X. Kendi and the New York Times’ 1619 Project.
Based on existing databases, the CRT dogma has invaded over 200 colleges and universities, 299 local and regional government jurisdictions, and countless school districts in all 50 U.S. states.
CRT curriculum in K-12 schools: https://whataretheylearning.com/map/
CRT indoctrination in workplaces: https://whataretheylearning.com/corporations/
CRT violations in school districts: https://defendinged.org/map/
CRT courses in higher education: https://criticalrace.org/
CRT training in local governments: https://www.racialequityalliance.org/where-we-work/jurisdictions/
Notable cases in K-12 education: https://whataretheylearning.com/
Notable cases in Corporate America: https://whataretheylearning.com/corporations/ Detailed accounts of outrageous cases: https://christopherrufo.com/
Countering CRT: More Intellectual Points
CRT is centered on a prognosis of systemic racism. Its five tenets are:
Something is fundamentally wrong with examining complex history and our multiethnic/multi-racial society strictly through the prism of race. A group of intellectually honest black academics object:
“(T)he heart of critical race theory is an idea that all intellectual and moral endeavor must be filtered through a commitment to overturning power differentials.” --- John McWhorter (2021). “Critical Race Theory: On The New Ideology Of Race.”
“The complaint that ‘microaggressions’ and ‘implicit bias’ contribute to racial oppression implies that many or most of my fellow citizens are extraordinarily bigoted, and are either lying to me about this while pretending to be my friends or are completely lacking in self-awareness.” --- Wilfred Reilly (2021). “‘Systemic racism’ is a conspiracy theory.”
“Critical race theory says that every dysfunctional condition in black urban communities can be traced to slavery and its aftermath. There is no place for individual choice or initiative. That’s the theory. But what critical race theory actually ‘accomplishes”’ is to create anger, frustration, and despondency among persons in the victim categories, who internalize this destructive message.” --- Carol Swain (2021). “Critical race theory’s toxic, destructive impact on America.”
“Once America’s evil became ‘poetic’ (permanently true), the formerly oppressed could make victimization an ongoing feature of their identity—despite the fact that their actual victimization had greatly declined.” --- Shelby Steele (2020). “An excerpt from ‘Shame’.” Sources: 1776 Unites. https://1776unites.com/. New Discourses: https://newdiscourses.com/.
o Racism is ‘embedded in the structure of society.’ o Racism has a ‘material foundation.’ o Racism changes and develops over different times. o Racism is often ascribed a degree of rationality. o Racism has a contemporary basis.
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Countering CRT: What is America?
What does “America” mean? Is it an idea or a collection of high ideals of liberty, freedom, justice and equality fortified through contestations and robust deliberations? Is there a shared inheritance as a “shining city on a hill” that safeguard the self-evident truths of humanity? Or are we a nation historically and presently steeped in the original sin that it is irredeemably racist? What is the path forward? A search for answers to these questions warrants a comparison between CRT’s journalist groundswell--- the 1619 project and historically grounded wisdom.
The 1619 Project by the New York Times: CRT’s Media Debut *A journalism project established by Nikole Hannah-Jones in 2019.
*Reframe America’s history on the legacy of slavery, and contributions of Black Americans.
*America’s “official birthdate” was in August 1619, when four enslaved Africans were brought ashore in Virginia and sold.
*American colonists fought the Revolutionary War in order to preserve slavery.
*Abraham Lincoln was a racial colonizationist.
*Slavery drove America’s economic growth and the rise of American capitalism.
*American history is a story of Black struggle against white supremacy.
*America’s founding ideals of liberty and equality were false when they were written.
*America’s lack of universal health care, traffic jams, school segregation, racial wealth gap, the obesity problem… can all be explained by slavery.
*Some people are inherently entitled to more power than others.
*Slavery and anti-Black racism still define America’s criminal-justice system.
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Countering CRT: What is America?
Since its August 2019 publication, the 1619 Project has quickly become an officially endorsed source for civics, history and social studies curriculum in K-12 classrooms. It is also a revered reference in all CRT-themed workplace training programs. But is this historical Truth or pre-established narrative?
Sources: Abraham Lincoln. The Gettysburg Address, 1863. Martin Luther King Jr. I have a Dream. 1963. John H. McWhorter. “We Cannot Allow ‘1619’ to Dumb Down America in the Name of a Crusade”. 2020. Glenn Loury. “Whose Fourth of July? Blacks and the ‘American project’”. 2021.
When was America Founded? Intellectual Counterpunches! “Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new
nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.” Abraham Lincoln, 1863.
“When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which
every American was to fall heir.” Martin Luther King Jr, 1963.
Leading historians Sean Wilentz, James McPherson, Gordon Wood, Victoria Bynum, and James Oakes: the 1619 Project reflected “a displacement of historical
understanding by ideology.”
“The 1619 kind of perspective, for all of its elaborate terminology and moral passion vented in serious media organs and entertained by people with PhDs, demands that we
abjure complexity. It is a call for dumbing ourselves down in the name of a moral crusade.” John H. McWhorter. 2020.
“What happened in 1776 — the founding of the United States — was vastly more significant for world history than what happened in 1619 — the first arrival in America
of African slaves. The narrative we blacks settle upon about the American story, the American project, is fundamentally important. Is this, basically, a good country that affords boundless opportunity to all who are fortunate enough to enjoy the privileges
and bear the responsibilities of American citizenship?” Glenn Loury. 2021
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Fighting CRT: Relevant Laws
Implementing CRT in education and workplaces is not only a matter of moral debates, but also makes various school districts, public agencies and private entities vulnerable to legal challenges. After all, CRT encourages race-based discrimination to advance an ideological agenda. But no ideology is above the law.
Ongoing Legal Challenges: 3 Examples
CRT and Discrimination “If discrimination is creating equity, then it is antiracist. If discrimination is creating inequity, then it is racist”-
Ibram X. Kendi
Federal Laws CRT training may violate 1. The 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution 2. The 1st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
3. Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 4. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
5 Supreme Court Rulings on Race Consciousness (1978 Bakke, 1989 Croson, 1995 Peña, 2003 Grutter/Gratz, 2009
DeStefano, 2016 Fisher)
Clark v. Democracy Prep In Nevada, an African-American mom and her high school son are suing the State Public Charter School Authority and Democracy Prep for a mandatory social studies class. This is a federal district case.
Class Action Lawsuit against California State Agencies
A state court case was filed against the California Natural Resources Agency and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife for racial discrimination and race-based treatment in CRT-rooted employment practices.
Lawsuit against Missouri Private High School
A high school senior and her parents are suing Villa Duchesne, her all-girls Catholic high school in St. Louis for CRT indoctrination and race-based aggression against the school’s white students.
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Fighting CRT: You are not alone!
With the Federal Government and Corporate America throwing their heavyweight behind CRT, rejecting it seems like a daunting task. Yet, we are on the side of truth and morality. And the public consensus is overwhelming against political indoctrination. According to a recent survey, A Steady, National and Bipartisan Consensus Against Race-Based Thinking and Policies
Even the international society is wary of CRT’s repercussions on classical western liberal values. The French Government has warned its nation against illiberal and divisive philosophies emanating from American universities. The U.K. Government established the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities which concluded that Britain is no longer a society “deliberately rigged against ethnic minorities.” Sources: Frank Newport (2014). “Americans on the Use of Race as a Factor in College Admissions.” Gallup. Nikki Graf (2019). “Most Americans say colleges should not consider race or ethnicity in admissions. Pew Research Center. Althea Nagai (2020). “Race, Ethnicity and California Prop 16.” Center for Equal Opportunity. WSJ Editorial (2021). “Emmanuel Macron and the Woke.” Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities (2021). The Report.
While many of America's 14,000 public school boards are embracing CRT, 50% of all parents and 70% of school board members said that they do not want schools to teach slavery as center of the national narrative. In addition, only 25% of parents and 17%
of school board members believe that students should be taught that the founding ideals of liberty and equality were wrong when they were written.
A 2014 Gallup Survey Only 28% of Americans (22% whites, 48% blacks, 31% Hispanics, 43% Democrats, 25% Independents, 11% Republicans) think college admissions should consider race.
A 2019 Pew Survey 73% of Americans (78% whites, 62% blacks, 65% Hispanics, 58% Asians, 63% Democrats, 85% Republicans) say college admissions should not consider race or ethnicity.
2020 California Election Over 9.65 million or 57.2% of CA voters (including about 33% of Biden voters) rejected the racial-discrimination/ preference measure Prop. 16.
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Fighting CRT in Education: Resources
Expose CRT Practices K-12: https://whataretheylearning.com/submit/ Higher Education: https://criticalrace.org/submit-school-information/. General: https://cferfoundation.org/report-violations-of-equal-rights/. File a Freedom of Information Act Request with the School District: https://defendinged.org/expose/
Build Awareness Acquire knowledge on CRT: http://counterweightsupport.com; http://newdiscourses.com Sign Up to CFER’s Email List: http://cferfoundation.org/contact-us/
Get Involved Attend local school board meetings
Write to teachers and administrators
Join local PTAs & other groups
Demand equal treatment, unity, transparency, & balanced curriculum
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Fighting CRT in Workplaces: Resources
Key Talking Points Against CRT: CRT is a new form of Marxism where class conflict between workers and business owners is replaced by race conflict between minorities and whites. CRT is against capitalism and for redistributing wealth from whites to people of color to engineer equal outcomes. CRT practices are blatantly unlawful, violating the 14th Constitutional Amendment and the 1964 Civil Rights Act. CRT promotes un-American and illiberal worldviews that examine society and policies through the artificial lenses of race. CRT turns sons against fathers, daughters against mothers, neighbors against each other. It is divisive and corrosive to our social cohesion.
Empower with Knowledge Acquire knowledge on CRT: http://counterweightsupport.com; http://newdiscourses.com Sign Up to CFER’s Email List: http://cferfoundation.org/contact-us/
Get Involved Attend local council/township meetings
Engage local administrators
Join local citizen groups against CRT
Demand equal rights, a non-hostile environment, & non-discrimination
Expose CRT Practices Gather Detailed Evidence of CRT Training and Race-based Treatment
Report to CFER: https://cferfoundation.org/report-violations-of-equal-rights/. File a Complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission: https://www.eeoc.gov/filing-charge-discrimination Explore Legal Options: https://cferfoundation.org/report-violations-of-equal-rights/.
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Fighting CRT: Powerful Testimonials
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About CFER: An Introduction
MISSION & VISION
We are a non-partisan and non-profit organization established following the defeat of Proposition 16 in 2020, with a mission to defend and raise public awareness on the cause of equal rights through public education, civic engagement and community outreach. We accomplish our mission through the following methods: (a) Implementing education campaigns to raise public awareness on equal rights through conferences, seminars, workshops, lectures or symposia. (b) Carrying out media campaigns and community outreach programs to expand our alliance. (c) Advocating for policy and/or legislative reforms in support of equal rights. (d) Conducting rigorous research and publishing books, pamphlets and policy position papers on issues pertinent to equal rights. (e) Filing complaints and/or taking legal actions against institutions or entities that violate the constitutional guarantee of equal protection or the civil rights principle of non-discrimination. (f) Championing civic engagement via cultural and educational programming.
JOURNEY FOR EQUAL RIGHTS: 2020
Californians for Equal Rights Foundation was created upon the success of the heroic No on 16 campaign in 2020. Californians for Equal Rights/No on 16, previously a ballot measure committee, led a successful campaign that resulted in the overwhelming defeat of the divisive and discriminatory Proposition 16 on the November 2020 statewide ballot. The campaign succeeded because California voters overwhelmingly rejected racial preferences, because the heroic campaign consistently implemented a winning strategy, because we were able to build a broad-based alliance across racial, ethnic, and political lines, and because we sufficiently educated the electorate on the harms of race-based decision making. Read more about CFER’s history: https://cferfoundation.org/journey-of-equal-opportunity/
Countering CRT: CFER’s Work
Critical Race theory (CRT) is a political sub-hypothesis that examines all social relations and power structures through the critical lenses of race and a neo-Marxist dichotomy of minority victim v. white oppressor. However, this formerly fringe and hyper-political theory has made tremendous inroads in our public education, mainstream media, and various other social institutions. There is a pervasive cultural movement predicated on a CRT framework to re-engineer our society based on race and stoke inter-group tensions through indoctrination. Many of America's 14,000 public school boards are embracing CRT. The good news is that we are on the right side of the history: 50% of all parents and 70% of school board members said that they do not want schools to use the instructional materials rooted in the idea that slavery is the center of the national narrative. In addition, only 25% of parents and 17% of school board members believe that students should be taught that the founding ideals of liberty and equality were wrong when they were written. Time after time, American people have rejected racial preferences in public policies and embraced the principles of true equality and merit. Since the beginning of 2021, CFER has been tirelessly working to expose CRT’s falsehoods and harmful ramifications. Among many exciting projects, we have:
• Submitted our nation’s first-ever civil rights complaint against CRT in San Diego Unified. • Produced premium OPEDs and testimonies in opposition to CRT and in support of initiatives to ban it. • Teamed up with nationally renowned experts to raise public awareness on CRT’s invasion. • Partnered with various organizations to coordinate an effective counter-movement. • Led an initiative to facilitate knowledge transfer and information sharing to equip everyday citizens to
better combat the corrosive ideology.
A few quotes from CFER’s published writing on this topic: “(T)he new generation of ‘racial reckoning’ foot soldiers are most interested in demolishing all Western institutions and rebuilding America on a bifurcated vision of oppressors vs. victims.”--- The Political Unfolding of California’s Racial Reckoning: From Affirmative Action to Critical Race Theory “Race-obsessed progressives can only cling to this narrative by diminishing the agency and accomplishments of Asian Americans.”--- Identity politics do more harm than good “Let us all be reminded that only our shared American identity is the unifying factor that can galvanize love and understanding.”--- We cannot achieve unity by deliberately dividing ourselves
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Countering CRT in California: Ethnic Studies
One of CFER’s areas of focus in 2021 is to promote public awareness on California’s sweeping movement to institute ethnic studies. This movement contains three prongs. Administratively, the State Board of Education has approved the Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum (ESMC) on March 18, 2021. The final ESMC draft, slightly modified to include more perspectives and quash some anti-Semitic elements in previous drafts, is still largely embedded in an indoctrinating framework of CRT. Legislatively, the California Assembly is reconsidering a bill (AB101) to mandate ethnic studies as a high-school graduation requirement. In local districts, original authors and supporters of ESMC have launched activist campaigns such as Save CA Ethnic Studies and the Liberated ESMC Coalition to sell the rejected model curriculum through resolutions. Since December 2020, CFER has worked tirelessly to expose the potential harms of and deep interests behind this movement. We have hosted several high-profile webinars, written many OPEDs on this topic, and organized a media campaign. We firmly believe that the current movement in California to institutionalize ethnic studies is ideological in nature, divisive in essence and hijacked by critical race theory. A few quotes from CFER’s published writing & media presence on this topic: “I believe in the type of ethnic studies that encourages individual empowerment, mutual respect, and historical nuances rather than the zero-sum racial tribalism being evangelized as the new social norm of public education.”--- Should I Get Canceled for Telling the Emperor He Has No Clothes On?
“Yes, a white face has become the face of this invisible enemy, the bullseye target for the ‘anti-racist’ movement. But isn’t it racist to define a whole group of people solely on the basis of the color of their skin? And, weren’t the assailants in the anti-Asian attacks of different skin colors?”--- The worrisome trend I see now is that politicians are using racism itself to ‘fight racism’
“Anyone concerned about the spread of CRT in our schools would benefit from viewing this webinar. But be prepared for some of the more sobering thoughts expressed. These include Wu’s warning the anti-CRT movement needs umbrella groups to represent parents and students who are reasonably concerned about their safety.”--- The Critical Race Training Juggernaut: Has It Reached Your School District Yet?
“Rep. Morgan planned on calling several nationally recognized experts in the field to give robust presentations, including Wenyuan Wu, James Lindsay, and Ian Rowe.”--- RI State Rep. Patricia Morgan: Keep Critical Race Theory Out Of Schools, “it is a step backwards for our country”
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More CRT Media Coverage
Legal Insurrection (Frank Xu): The worrisome trend I see now is that politicians are using racism itself to ‘fight racism’ * “Rising crime demands law enforcement solutions, not anti-racism statements.” Southern California News Group (Wenyuan Wu): Identity politics do more harm than good
* “Apparently, the progressive press doesn’t want to engage in comprehensive reporting on the race of attackers of Asian Americans because doing so might force us to reflect on the deeper issues of mental health, sex trafficking, distressed communities and failing public education systems.”
WSJ Editorial: California’s Ethnic Studies Mandate * “Ethnic studies wants to invert traditional American ideas of individual merit, opportunity and success. It imposes its own dominant narrative that interprets all social interactions through the lens of oppression”
National Association of Scholars: California Inches Closer to Ethnic Studies Mayhem
* “In this week’s featured article, Wenyuan Wu of Californians for Equal Rights breaks down the latest developments in the California ethnic studies movement, including the nearly finalized Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum (ESMC).”
Minding the Campus (Wenyuan Wu): Should I Get Canceled for Telling the Emperor He Has No Clothes On?
* “The current form of ethnic studies in California, the Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum (ESMC), stokes racial divisions and animosity by subjugating our society to a binary, race-based lens and by perverting our nation’s complex history with a narrow framework of identity politics.”
WSJ Opinion: The Woke ‘Model Minority’ Myth
* “Asian-Americans are caught in a bind—condemn the system of white supremacy and privilege along with other people of color or be banished from the victim group as white-adjacent,’ says Wenyuan Wu.
The Jewish Voice: Watchdog Groups Believe Authors of Discredited First-Draft Ethnic Studies Curriculum Using University Name and Taxpayer-Funded Resources to Run For-Profit Business
* “Three organizations that have for several months been raising concerns about the corrupt development of California’s Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum, today called on state officials to investigate further unethical and potentially illegal activities by the curriculum drafters.”
Southern California News Group (Frank Xu): We cannot achieve unity by deliberately dividing ourselves
* “(T)rue unity is beyond symbolic acknowledgement. We must first identify common grounds predicated on both basic principles and shared realities before any meaningful resolution can be materialized.”
Minding the Campus (Wenyuan Wu): The Political Unfolding of California’s Racial Reckoning: From Affirmative Action to Critical Race Theory * “The end game, whether the pundits realize it or not, is a disastrous racial nirvana.” Highlighted on Glenn Beck Show 03/18/21: https://youtu.be/3qJNjLWflXI Interviewed by Glenn Beck 02/09/21, Trevor Carey 04/13/21. For more related media coverage, see: https://cferfoundation.org/media-coverage/.
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The Underlying Principle of Equality
The legendary No on 16 campaign, CFER’s successful precursor, was one of California’s biggest winners last election. The profound lesson here is: upholding true equality and equal opportunity is the single most poignant path and unifier, especially at a time of unprecedented political polarization, corrosive ideologies, racial balkanization, and social unrest. Now more than ever, we must realize the spirit of equality as THE underlying bedrock of virtuous governance in all aspects of our public life.
By advancing this foundational concept, we are poised to save our nation from counterproductive racial spoils, a bumbling bureaucracy, a race-to-the-bottom public education and illiberal attacks on America’s fundamental values. At the end of the day, the decisive electoral victory of No on 16 signifies a repudiation of partisan stalemate— we must be willing to move beyond narrow partisan confines and truthfully engage with the dead bull’s-eye sensible center where the American majority lives.
To advance equality, defend merit, and promote unity, CFER is focused on the following initiatives in 2021:
• Pushing back the invasion of Critical Race Theory in public education and the work place. • Educating the public and media on California’s ethnic studies movement. • Challenging the University of California on its systematic racial discrimination in admissions. • Monitoring public agencies and educational institutions in California on their enforcement of the
constitutional guarantee of equal protection (Prop. 209).
To support CFER’s work, please make a kind contribution: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=3PVVT23DQKB5N.